BOOK THE NINTH.
Chapter I.
1. The dispositions of obscure and short-lived animals are less easily observed than those of long-lived animals; for they appear to have a certain inclination towards each natural affection of the soul, such as prudence and folly, courage and cowardice, mildness and cruelty, and such other habits. Some also, which have the sense of hearing, appear to be capable of a certain degree of instruction and discipline, both from one another and from mankind, for they not only distinguish the difference of sounds but also of signs.
2. And in all animals in which there is a distinction of the sexes nature has given a similar disposition to the males and to the females. This is most conspicuous in man, and the larger animals, and in viviparous quadrupeds; for the disposition of the female is softer, and more tameable and submissive, and more ingenious; as the females of the Lacedemonian dog are more gentle than the males. In the Molossian race of dogs, those employed in hunting differ in no respect from other dogs; while those employed in following sheep are larger and more fierce in their attack on wild beasts. A mixture of the Molossian and Lacedemonian races is both braver and more capable of enduring fatigue.
3. The females of all animals are less violent in their passions than the males, except the female bear and pardalis, for the female of these appears more courageous than the male. In other animals the females are more soft and insidious, less simple, more petulant, and more active in the care of their young. The disposition of the males is opposed to this; for they are more passionate and fierce, more straightforward, and less invidious. The vestiges of these dispositions exist, as we may say, in all, but are more conspicuous in those which have the strongest moral habits, and most of all in mankind; for the nature of the human subject is the most complete, so that these habits appear more conspicuous in mankind than in other animals.
4. Wherefore women are more compassionate and more readily made to weep, more jealous and querulous, more fond of railing, and more contentious. The female also is more subject to depression of spirits and despair than the male. She is also more shameless and false, more readily deceived, and more mindful of injury, more watchful, more idle, and on the whole less excitable than the male. On the contrary, the male is more ready to help, and, as it has been said, more brave than the female; and even in the malacia, if the sepia is struck with a trident, the male comes to help the female, but the female makes her escape if the male is struck.
Chapter II.
1. Animals often fight with each other, particularly those which inhabit the same places and eat the same food; for when food becomes scarce, congeners fight together. They say that seals which occupy the same locality will fight, the males with the males and the females with the females, until one party is either killed or ejected by the other, and their cubs also will fight in the same way. All animals also will fight with carnivorous creatures, and these will fight with other animals, for they feed upon living creatures; for which reason augurs observe the disputes and agreements of animals, considering that their disputes betoken war, and their agreements peace with each other.
2. When supplied with plenty of food, animals that are naturally afraid of man and fierce appear to submit themselves to him, and to conduct themselves quietly towards each other. The care which is taken of animals in Egypt demonstrates this circumstance; for even the fiercest creatures live together, when they have food enough, and are not in any want; for they become tame from the supply of their wants which they receive, as the crocodiles are tamed by the priests by the care which is bestowed on their food. The same thing may be observed in other countries and in their different parts.